The Retention Challenge: After You Land Them, How Do You Keep Them?

Employee turnover can be costly. Estimates suggest that for mid-level employees, it can cost as much as 150 percent of their annual salary to replace them.

Yes, finding top talent can be very time-consuming, and job turnover results in costs associated with severance, lost productivity and recruitment.

Unfortunately, more and more workers are quitting their jobs. While economists might see this as a sign of an improving economy, it presents a major obstacle to employers who want to hold on to their best people.

As your HR staff knows, sourcing talent can be a challenge. Keeping them once the hiring process is complete adds an additional layer of complexity to the talent game. Quality of hire might be HR’s most important metric, but keeping those high quality workers once they are hired is just as critical.

What are some of the top talent retention strategies?

Offer Training and Mentorship

Effective onboarding processes should provide the training new employees need to succeed on the job.

Such training not only ensures that workers have a good understanding of the job requirements, it also goes a long way in helping your talent feel valued and committed to the job. Consider having more experienced and knowledgeable employees provide mentorship, advice and training to less experienced workers.

Reminder: Pay Really Does Matter

Effective onboarding processes should provide the training new employees need to succeed on the job.

Such training not only ensures that workers have a good understanding of the job requirements, it also goes a long way in helping your talent feel valued and committed to the job. Consider having more experienced and knowledgeable employees provide mentorship, advice and training to less experienced workers.

Provide Opportunities to Grow and Advance

Employees who feel stifled and bored will quickly lose interest in their jobs and start looking elsewhere. The key to preventing this malaise is to give your top talent the opportunity to grow and advance in their positions.

Keep a close eye on your employees and their achievements, and, make sure to dole out recognitions and promotions accordingly.

Make Sure You Focus on Work-Life Balance

Along with salary concerns, personal issues are among the top reasons why employees opt to leave an organization.

Health, family, school and marriage are just a few of the personal issues that might play a role in an employee leaving their positions. So what can you do to minimize employee turnover that is not the result of workplace issues?

One thing that can really help is to help your employees achieve work-life balance.

Consider allowing your best workers to enjoy a non-traditional work schedule, or even consider having opportunities for them to telecommute. By helping your top talent keep their personal lives stress-free, you may be able to reduce employee turnover.

Provide Regular, Constructive Feedback

Offering detailed, regular feedback on performance can also go a long way toward retaining your top talent.

Performance reviews can be helpful, and there are now online tools that can help make this process much easier and more objective.

Talent checkup software, for example, allows employees to receive feedback from many individuals in an organization. Employees then receive a detailed report that outlines their many strengths as well as some potential areas that could use improvement.

What are some strategies that you use to retain your top talent once hiring is complete?

About The Author

As the leader in web-based talent decision tools, Checkster enables organizations to make better talent decisions.
Using the new science of collective intelligence and ubiquity of social networks to deliver fast, accurate social ratings, Checkster gives organizations certainty in new hire decisions and employee promotions.

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As the leader in web-based talent decision tools, Checkster enables organizations to make better talent decisions.